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Markham is host to a wide variety of technology company headquarters, including AMD (Formerly ATI Technologies), Motorola, IBM Software Labs and Sun Microsystems. The Town's slogans 'The Mark of Excellence' and 'Canada's High Tech Capital' are well emphasized, with a multicultural community, a variety of events and attractions, and an embracement of old town nostalgia and modern high-tech living.

Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport (airport code: YKZ) is only accessible by those with private jets. [5]. Most international visitors land at Toronto Pearson International Airport (airport code: YYZ) and can travel to Markham by taking the hourly 40 GO bus to Richmond Hill Centre Terminal, after which transferring to any York Region Transit (YRT) bus will be $0.70 only if the whole trip is charged to a PRESTO card.

Public transit access to Markham typically begins in Toronto, either in the form of TTC [6] or GO Transit[7] (stops in Markham on the Stouffville line include Milliken, Unionville, Centennial and Markham). York Region Transit [8] also has numerous routes that operate in Markham, with connections for buses heading north to Newmarket and East Gwillimbury and south towards Toronto. YRT has direct bus service to and from the Finch subway station, despite the subway being outside of YRT's jurisdiction.

All YRT and GO Transit vehicles are equipped with PRESTO card readers, allowing one to tap on and tap off and receive a fare discount (for GO Transit 10%) as well as transfer discounts (note that for GO Transit trains, one must tap on/off on the platform).

If you are visiting Pacific Mall and Market Village, the cheapest way to access these malls by transit is via TTC route #53 (Steeles East) which departs from Finch Station on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line. If you are travelling in the east-end, TTC route #43 (Kennedy) going north from Kennedy Station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line and Scarborough RT line may be more useful for you. If you are nearer to Union Station in downtown Toronto and it's rush hour, a direct GO Train to Milliken station may be faster.

Unsurprisingly for a suburb, most travel is typically done by private automobile, with numerous highways and arterials leading in and out of the town. Going from east to west is the privately-held toll Highway 407, which begins in the east at Brock Road and ends 108 kilometres west in Burlington. Highway 404 goes north to south, starting at Green Lane in East Gwillimbury and ending in Toronto at Highway 401.

Like the rest of the Greater Toronto Area, Markham is laid out in grid fashion. The main east-west local avenues in Markham (from north to south) are Stouffville Road, Elgin Mills Road East, Major Mackenzie Drive East, Highway 7, 14th Avenue and then Steeles Avenue East which is the border between Markham and Toronto. Most businesses are located on Highway 7 and Steeles Avenue East.

From west to east, the major roads are Yonge Street (border between Markham and Vaughan), Bayview Avenue, Leslie Street, Woodbine Avenue, Warden Avenue, Kennedy Road, McCowan Road, Markham Road (sometimes known as Highway 48) and then Ninth Line.

If you are travelling by public transit, three transit agencies operate within Markham: YRT, GO Transit, and TTC (see the Get In section). The visitor will likely find the YRT route #1, Viva Purple, Viva Pink (Viva is YRT's bus rapid transit brand) and TTC route #53 to be the most useful routes in Markham. These bus routes typically have very good service frequencies, with buses coming at least every 15-20 minutes. Though the first three routes stop running around 1AM, TTC route #53 has overnight service from 2AM to 5AM, coming every 30 minutes. Rush hour frequencies are particularly good for this route (every 3-5 minutes), reflecting the fact that it is the 19th busiest TTC bus route out of 148.

Main Street Unionville Main Street, north of Highway 7, Tel: (905) 477-0117, (Email: [email protected]), [9]. Main Street Unionville is a historic village that was first developed in the 1840s. As typical of a small village, it boasts numerous quaint period buildings in an idyllic surrounding. Great place to visit for a day out.

Main Street Old Markham Village Main Street Markham or Hwy 48, north of Highway 7, Tel: 905-472-2462, (Email: [email protected]), [10]. Main Street Markham is a historic village that was first developed in the early 1800s. As typical of a small village, it boasts numerous quaint period buildings in an idyllic surrounding. Great place to visit for a day out. The Markham Museum is one of many highlights. Farmers Market Saturday until 1:00 pm Mid May to Mid Oct.

Pacific Mall, 4300 Steeles Ave. E. at Steeles and Kennedy Intersection, Tel: (905) 470-8785, (Email: [email protected]), [11]. Year round including holidays. Su-Th 11AM-8PM, F,Sa, 11AM-9PM. Pacific Mall is the largest Chinese indoor mall in North America with 400 stores selling a large variety of retail goods as well as herbs, prepared Chinese foods and entertainment. This is a great place to visit for cheap DVDs, computer parts, photography equipment, cellphone accessories and the like.

Market Village, 4390 Steeles Ave. E. at Steeles and Kennedy Intersection, Tel: (905) 940-2243, (Email: [email protected]), [12]. Year round including holidays. Every day 11AM-8PM. Market Village was the original Chinese indoor mall before Pacific Mall became popular next door. Though smaller than its neighbour and no longer the central hub of the Chinese community as it was a decade or two ago, Market Village still has numerous popular stores and restaurants within. During Chinese New Year and other holidays, the mall is packed with visitors and other festive-goers. Try a bowl of wonton noodles at Wonton Time (absolutely divine, $4.50) and then get a freshly-made 'dan guen' for dessert (HK-style sweet egg roll, ~$3) at Tung Tung Dan Quen King. The freshly-made soya bean milk and soya bean pudding at Yan Woo Soya Bean Foods are delicious as well.

Markham has a large variety of foods to choose from in a variety of price ranges. The Chinese population is especially high in this area (~40% in the last census), so if you enjoy Chinese food, this is the place to look for it!

Hunan Garden Restaurant, 3636 Steeles Avenue E., ☎905-948-8855. This authentic Hunanese restaurant is delicious, with chefs cooking up local flavours that you clearly can tell aren't just some weird Cantonese version. The menu is a smorgasbord of unusual, so be adventurous and try things you would normally never get. They also have a cheap non-big-brand beer on tap ($2.50/pint, also pitchers) which is surprisingly palatable when soaked up with spicy food. Staff speaks limited non-Mandarin, so if you can, try to bring a Mandarin speaker with you,$10-15 per dish at dinner. They also do a $5 lunch dish/rice plate. edit

Wonton Time, 4390 Steeles Ave E, ☎905-477-8882. open lunch/dinner. This restaurant will make you understand what a good bowl of wonton noodles tastes like. Perhaps not as good as Jim Chai Kee in Richmond Hill but also not as sketch sanitary-wise either. Try the wonton/beef 'ho fun'. Located near the back of Market Village by the supermarket in the rear.$5. edit

Bagahon, 4300 Steeles Ave E. Great Singaporean food for cheap, they make it right in front of you, and the whole menu is nothing but healthy options. For a much-loved Singaporean dish try Hainan chicken rice, though their grilled salted shrimp is a personal favourite, and quite inexpensive. Kaya toast is also pretty great if you're looking for something sweeter.$5. edit